Bill Moves Forward

While the law protects employees and job applicants from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, progress is still needed for interns to have similar protections. In some states, unpaid interns have no legal protections from workplace discrimination because they are not technically employees. Internships are often utilized by high school or college students to gain experience or complete education requirements. Interns may feel unable to complain about mistreatment, such as sexual harassment and discrimination, due to lack of protections and concern that it will harm their employment opportunities. A greater prevalence of internships calls for the law to change and extend anti-discrimination protections to unpaid interns. Some states, such as California, New York, as well as Washington D.C., have updated their laws to provide workplace protections for interns.

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This is provided as a guide only, and not legal advice. Please contact our firm at 1-800-578-4357 for a no-charge legal consultation for sex harassment, sexual harassment or discrimination.